Many of you should know about possibility to control AV equipment connected via HDMI from remote control of one of those devices. Sony calls it Bravia Theater Synch, Toshiba – Regza Link, LG – SimpLink etc. But basically all those technologies use CEC – Consumer Electronic Control – bidirectional serial bus that allows components to control each other across an HDMI cable. However, in case of Sony, Toshiba, LG etc that technology works only between devices from the same manufactures. The new kwikwai unit not only fixes that limitation. It also allow to send commands to two AV devices via LAN, USB or RS232 ports. That fact makes this device extremely useful when you need integrate AV equipment into whole house automation system. It’s more reliable then IR transmitters and gives more flexibility and power.

The kwikwai unit can be used as a tinkering and discovery tool as well. It provides a web interface to see detailed communication information between devices and allows to send specified command to the connected device. So, professional integrators may have a big benefit to use it.